Saturday, June 30, 2012

FAST AND FURIOUS: DEAD FISH STINK FROM THE HEAD DOWN

Back in 2009, I was in Del Rio, Texas, attending a Texas Border Sherriff’s Coaliton conference. During one particular Q and A session, the Obama liaison from the Department of Homeland Security kept focusing on stopping the southern flow of guns and money into Mexico.

That felt odd. Yes, stopping the flow of money back into Mexico would hurt the Mexican drug cartels. And yes, some weapons purchased from US gun stores were ending up in Mexico. However, hand grenades, RPGs, explosives and the vast amount of military hardware that the cartels were using were not available at Walmart, not even in Texas. The cartels have an unlimited supply of cash. They can purchase whatever they desire on the international arms black market.

The folks that didn’t have sufficient cash and resources were the good guys--the men and women in US law enforcement that are tasked with holding the line. However, the sheriffs were optimistically cautioned, there will soon be stimulus money that will be available to you... for the programs to stop southern traffic.

Now at that time, border sheriffs like Arvin West from Hudspeth County were actively petitioning the Obama administration for access to military surplus equipment, which would aid tremendously in their war with the Mexican drug cartels.

Those requests were flatly ignored. Odd, because at the same time, President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, William Hoover, Diane Feinstein and others in the Obama administration were aggressively pushing the “90% of all guns used by the drug cartels are coming from US gun stores” mantra.

That was a joke to the sheriffs on the border, and with good reason. It was not true.

Not even close. Although the “90% of all guns” claim was effectively debunked by FOX News' William La Jeunesse; the Obama mantra continued long after anyone was even paying attention.

I don’t know, maybe it is the old adage, “If enough people repeat a lie often enough it will become accepted as the truth.”

So anyhow, then comes Operation Fast and Furious. The DOJ puts guns into the hands of Cartel assassins. Agent Brian Terry is murdered. Mexican citizens are murdered. President Obama asserts executive privilege, and Sheriff West still hasn’t received his military surplus.